[11/18/08 - 11:01 AM]ABC Draws Its Biggest Audience Since Season-Premiere Week and Is Up Over the Same Week Last YearABC spins the numbers for the week of November 10-16.

[via press release from ABC]

Primetime Ratings Report
For the week of November 10, 2008
(Based on National Live + Same Day Program Ratings)

Building its Overall Audience for the 4th Straight Week, ABC Draws its Biggest Audience Since Season-Premiere Week and is Up Over the Same Week Last Year

Net Delivers 4 of the Top 10 Shows for the Week in Adults 18-49, Including
The Top 2 Scripted Series, and 5 of the Top 10 Most-Watched Shows Overall

ABC Leads the 2008 November Sweep in Adults 18-49, Also Ranking No. 1
For the Season in Both the Program Ratings and the Commercial (C3) Ratings

"Dancing with the Stars" Is Monday's Most-Watched TV Program for the 8th Straight Week, Posting Week-to-Week Gains of 1.7 Million Viewers and 8% in Adults 18-49

On Monday, "Samantha Who?" Beats CBS' "Worst Week" in Adults 18-49 for
The First Time, with its Best Young Adult Performance Since its Season Premiere

With "The 42nd Annual CMA Awards," ABC Dominates Wednesday Evening,
Beating Second-Place CBS by 4.8 Million Viewers and by 67% in Adults 18-49

ABC Posts its Biggest Wednesday in Viewers and Adults 18-49 in 1 Year, Along with Its Top Men 18-49 Number in 1-1/2 Years and its Best Men 25-54 Number in 2 Years

"Ugly Betty" Tops NBC's Comedies in Thursday's 8pm Hour by 2.2 Million Viewers,
Winning its Time Slot in Women 18-34 for the 8th Consecutive Week This Season

For the 3rd Week in a Row, "Grey's" is Thursday's No. 1 TV Show in Adults 18-49

ABC's News' "Barbara Walters Special" is No. 1 on Friday at 10pm Across All Key Adults, Posting the Net's Best Women Numbers in the Hour in Nearly 9 Months

"Housewives" Hits Best-Since-Premiere Numbers in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, And Excluding its Season Opener, Matched its Largest Audience in Over 10 Months

In Sunday's 10pm Hour, ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" Beats its CBS Drama Competition By 29% in Adults 18-49 and is No. 1 in with Key Women for the 8th Straight Week

WEEK No. 8:

During the week of November 10, 2008, ABC took a solid second place in Total Viewers (10.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.1/8), pacing within two-tenths of a rating point of an NFL-lifted CBS, which got a boost to its weekly averages from the primetime overrun of the Chargers-Steelers game on Sunday. For the 8th consecutive week this season, ABC qualified as the No. 1 network with Women 18-34 (3.1/9) and Women 18-49 (4.0/10).

� Building its overall audience for the 4th week in a row, ABC generated its biggest audience since season-premiere week � w/o 9/22/08. In addition, the Network drew a larger audience this year than on the same week a year ago (w/o 11/12/07 = 10.4 million).

� 2008 November Sweep to date (18 of 28 nights � 10/30-11/16/08), ABC is No. 1 in Adults 18-49, holding a 7% advantage over the second-place networks (3.2/8 vs. 3.0/8 � CBS and NBC are tied). Season to date (based on all programming), ABC ranks No. 1 among Adults 18-49 in both the Program Ratings (3.3/9 � tied w/CBS) and Commercial (C3) Ratings (2.9 - Commercial Ratings + 3 Days of Playback).

Rankings: ABC placed 4 of the Top 10 TV shows in Adults 18-49 for the week, its highest number this season, claiming the Top 2 scripted series for the 2nd week in a row with "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy": "Desperate Housewives" � No. 3," "Grey's Anatomy" � No. 4, "CMA Awards" � No. 7 and "Dancing with the Stars" � No. 10. The Net aired 5 of the Top 10 most-watched television shows overall for the week, more than any other net and ABC's highest number this season: "Dancing with the Stars" � No. 5, "Desperate Housewives" � No. 6, "DWTS Results" � No. 7, "CMA Awards" � No. 9 and "Grey's Anatomy" � No. 10. In addition between "Grey's" and "Housewives" ABC delivered the Top 2 TV programs for the week across each of the key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 28% currently, from 21% at the same point in 2007. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Monday

Ranking as the night's most-watched network for the 7th time in 8 weeks this season, ABC's Monday lineup saw increases over the previous week of 1.7 million viewers (14.1 million vs. 12.4 million) and 13% in Adults 18-49 (3.4/8 vs. 3.0/7). In fact, the Net logged its highest young adult performance on the night in 5 weeks � since 10/06/08.

"Dancing with the Stars" (8:00-9:32 p.m.)

Qualifying as Monday's most-watched program in all 8 of its telecasts so far this season, ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" saw week-to-week increases of 1.6 million viewers (18.7 million vs. 17.1 million) and 8% in Adults 18-49 (4.2/10 vs. 3.9/9). In addition, "DWTS" ranked as Monday's No. 1 program among Women 18-49 (5.8/13) and Women 25-54 (7.4/16).

"Samantha Who?" (9:32-10:02 p.m.)

Television's second-most watched sitcom of the season (behind CBS' "Two and a Half Men"), ABC's "Samantha Who?" outdrew its comedy competition in the time slot, CBS' "Worst Week," by nearly 1.0 million viewers (10.4 million vs. 9.5 million), while beating the CBS sitcom for the first time in Adults 18-49 (2.9/7 vs. 2.8/7). In fact, the ABC comedy delivered its best Adults 18-49 rating since its season premiere � 10/13/08.

� "Samantha Who?" won its time period among Women 18-49 (4.3/10) and Women 25-54 (5.3/11) for the 4th time in 5 airings.

"Boston Legal" (10:02-11:00 p.m.)

Building on the previous week's performance by 2.0 million viewers (8.7 million vs. 6.7 million) and by 22% in Adults 18-49 (2.2/6 vs. 1.8/4), ABC's "Boston Legal" equaled its best Adults 18-49 performance since its season premiere � since 9/22/08. "Boston Legal" more than doubled its Total Viewer count compared to NBC's "My Own Worst Enemy" (8.7 million vs. 4.3 million; +4.4 million), while defeating the NBC freshman drama for the first time in Adults 18-49 (2.2/6 vs. 1.8/5; +22%).

Tuesday

"Dancing with the Stars Recap" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Dancing with the Stars Recap" saw increases over its previous airing (10/21/08) by 1.3 million viewers (10.3 million vs. 9.0 million) and by 5% in Adults 18-49 (2.1/5 vs. 2.0/5).

"Dancing with the Stars Results" (9:00-10:02 p.m.)

ABC's "Dancing with the Stars Results" drew 16.5 million viewers and a 3.6 rating, 9 share in Adults 18-49, ranking No. 1 in the hour in viewers (tied with CBS' "The Mentalist"). "DWTS Results" beat its unscripted competition in the time period, NBC's second hour of "The Biggest Loser: Families," by 8.0 million viewers ("Loser" = 8.5 million). Olympic gold medalist Maurice Greene was the eighth celebrity dancer to leave the competition this season.

Wednesday

"The 42nd Annual CMA Awards" (8:00-11:00 p.m.)

With the Network's broadcast of "The 42nd Annual CMA Awards," ABC towered over Wednesday's prime, topping second-place CBS on the evening by 4.8 million viewers (15.9 million vs. 11.1 million) and by 67% in Adults 18-49 (5.0/13 vs. 3.0/8). ABC won all 6 half-hours of the night in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. In fact it was a clean sweep on the night, as the Network also took top honors on the evening with across all key Adults, Men and Women demographics (18-34/18-49/25-54), as well as standing as the top broadcaster with Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11.

� ABC delivered its largest Wednesday audience and top Adult 18-49 rating on the night in 1 year � since 11/7/07. The "CMA Awards" generated ABC's highest Men 18-49 rating on the evening in 1-1/2 years and its top Men 25-54 number in more than 2 years � since 5/23/07 and 10/4/06, respectively.

� Year to year, the "CMA Awards" retained nearly all of its overall Total Viewers (15.9 million vs. 16.0 million), while growing its audience with Men 18-49 by +3% (3.7/10 vs. 3.6/10), by +7% in Men 25-54 (4.8/12 vs. 4.5/12) and by +20% in Kids 2-11 (1.8/8 vs. 1.5/7).

� ABC's telecast of the "CMA Awards" towered over CBS' 2008 May Sweep telecast of the "ACM Awards" by 4.2 million viewers and by 72% in Adults 18-49 (CBS' "ACM Awards" on 5/18/08 = 11.7 million viewers and 2.9/8 in AD18-49).

� An estimated 34.6 million viewers watched at least some portion of the "The 42 Annual CMA Awards" during its 3-hour telecast � unique Viewers 2+ that watched 6 minutes or more of the program.
Thursday

ABC took second place on Thursday in Total Viewers (10.4 million) and Adults 18-49 (3.6/9). The Network won the night for the 2nd week in a row in Adults 18-34 (3.3/9), holding the No. 1 position for the 4th time in 5 weeks. In addition, ABC took first place with Women 18-49 (5.2/13) for the 5th consecutive week, and marked its 8th straight week this season as the evening's No. 1 network among Women 18-34, surpassing its nearest competitor by 48% on the latter measure (4.9/13 vs. 3.3/9 - NBC).

"Ugly Betty" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Ugly Betty" took second place in the 8 o'clock hour in Total Viewers (8.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.5/7), outdrawing NBC's comedies in the time period for the 6th week in a row, by 2.2 million viewers ("My Name is Earl"/"Kath & Kim" = 6.1 million & 2.4/6 in AD18-49). "Betty" took full control of the hour in Women 18-34, beating CBS' "Survivor" by 21% (3.4/9 vs. 2.8/8) and tallying its 8th straight week this season as the No. 1 program in its time slot with young women.

"Grey's Anatomy" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)

For the 3rd straight week and the 4th time in the past 5 weeks, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" qualified as Thursday's No. 1 TV show in the key Adult 18-49 sales demo. The ABC medical drama defeated CBS' drama competition in the 9 o'clock hour, "C.S.I.," by 12% in Adults 18-49 (5.7/13 vs. 5.1/12) and by 70% in Adults 18-34 (5.6/16 vs. 3.3/9). "Grey's" also registered as the night's No. 1 show with Adults 18-34 for the 4th time in the last 5 weeks.

"Life on Mars" (10:01-11:00 p.m.)

ABC's "Life on Mars" bested its CBS freshman drama competition in the 10:00 p.m. hour, "Eleventh Hour," for the 6th week in a row with Women 18-34 (2.6/7 vs. 2.4/7).

Friday

"A Barbara Walters Special" (10:00-11:00 p.m.)

ABC News' "A Barbara Walters Special: What is a Man? What is a Woman? Journey of a Pregnant Man," featuring a Barbara Walters exclusive: Thomas Beatie's first interview since giving birth this summer as a transgender male, ranked No. 1 in the hour across each of the key adult demographics: Adults 18-34 (1.6/6), Adults 18-49 (2.2/7) and Adults 25-54 (2.8/8-tie). In addition, the ABC News Special delivered the Net's highest ratings in the hour across each of the key women demographics

Sunday

Opposite a highly-rated NFL game on NBC's "Sunday Night Football" (Cowboys-Redskins) and CBS with another enormous primetime NFL overrun (Chargers-Steelers) leading into "60 Minutes" with the first post-election interview with President Elect Barack Obama, ABC won Sunday by a strong margin among Women 18-49 (+14% - 4.9/12 vs. 4.3/10 - CBS). In fact ABC marked its 8th consecutive Sunday this season at No. 1 in Women 18-49. ABC defeated fourth-place Fox with its "animation domination" lineup on Sunday night by 4.3 million viewers (11.0 million vs. 6.7 million) and by 26% in Adults 18-49 (3.9/10 vs. 3.1/7).

� For the 8th consecutive Sunday this season, ABC's "Desperate Housewives" stood as the evening's most-watched entertainment program. "Housewives" tallied its 7th time in 8 weeks as Sunday's highest-rated entertainment series with Adults 18-49.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8:00-9:00 p.m.)

Jumping from its lead-in, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" topped its entertainment competition the time period on Fox ("The Simpsons"/"King of the Hill") by 2.5 million viewers (10.3 million vs. 7.8 million). Overcoming NBC's NFL game, "Home Edition" took second place in its time period in key Women demos: W18-49 (4.4/10) and W25-54 (4.8/10).

"Desperate Housewives" (9:00-10:01 p.m.)

ABC's "Desperate Housewives" was the definitive entertainment choice in its 9 o'clock time slot in Total Viewers (16.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (6.2/14), overshadowing CBS' "Amazing Race"/ "Cold Case" combo by 5.0 million viewers and by 107% in Adults 18-49 (11.8 million & 3.0/7) and Fox's animated comedies by 9.1 million viewers and by 68% in Adults 18-49 ("Family Guy"/"American Dad" � 7.7 million & 3.7/8).

� In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, "Desperate Housewives" turned in best-since-premiere results � since 9/28/08. In fact excluding its September season opener, "Housewives" matched its most-watched telecast in more than 10 months � matching its May season finale on 5/18/08, but beyond that, best since 1/6/08.